The M has been selfishly taking away my Wednesday workouts to pursue her own fitness aspirations. That’s going to have to change. Missed the Anvil crew and was happy to be back. No new guys, only 2 site FNGs (Swiper and Sundancer)…let’s go.
Moving COP: no time for circling up
DONE
Das Skins
Awesome being back to Anvil and at the Q spot. Wasn’t sure i was going to make it today, as around 3:30 i awoke for the day to a wonderful stomach issue. I’ll spare everyone the details…though i did burden Voodoo, Sundancer and Chanel with the deets…sorry #isharedtoomuch #besties #hopeyoucaneattoday.
Strong crew today; people were blazing on the AYGs #leadingfromthemiddle.
Great to have a couple brothers in Swiper and Sundancer that i’ve met since hitting SOFA WIB join us. Everyone should try this workout. Seriously the hardest workout in F3 off Rea Road at 5:30 that meets at Olde Providence. Fast dudes.
It was just One Eye and YHC until 5:30 sharp when High Tide came in on 2 wheels. Quick review of the particulars and off we went.
The purpose of WIB is to push yourself for 45 with various pain stations and achieve a bit more mileage than your typical bootcamp. The goal today was 4 miles and I clocked us at 4.26. One Eye completed 3 full circuits, YHC did as well minus the last 10 HR burpees #veteranmove, and HT was on the Foxworth hill finishing the 3rd set as we circled up and headed for the brutal finishing mile.
One Eye took the lead late in the workout and never looked back. Strong work. High Tide was a newbie, and despite being a #meathead he did awesome. We were all within sight the full 45.
First mile varied between 6:40 and approximately 7:30. Finishing mile (worst mile in F3) was somewhere between 7:45 and 9 mins.
Great to be with these men today. Aye.
Tomorrow we’ll be pushing for 4 miles+ for the BRR-inclined; including the appropriate amount of pain as interlude. Several regulars will be DR so come join in on the best new thing in F3. You versus you for 45 minutes. #dailyredpill #ISI
I tweeted last night that today’s workout would be a special plan for a special day. After Van Pelt inquired i shared with the Pax; today is my sister’s birthday and she would have been 41. It has been 15 years since she went to heaven to await the rest of us.
No new folks so off we went for a brief mosey.
The Thang
COP
Mosey to soccer fields:
Jacob’s Ladder (7s):
Grinder (15 down to 1)
Bench set:
Playground:
Stone set (lifting stone)
North Face gasser:
COT
Done!
Moleskine
It is a powerful and humbling experience when we are reminded of the support we have through this group. For a day that is a mix of emotions every year, today was a perfect start for me. Putting in hard work and getting stronger with a great group of men, seeing an immaculate sunrise, and then to see our local bald eagle flying over as we arrived at COT. Moving.
Thank you Iron Horse for asking me to share something special about my sister. Despite my choking up and inability to articulate, it was relieving to let it out and share with you all. God is good.
Ironsides, thank you for sharing that you have lost a sister as well.
Mermaid, thank you for our ongoing conversations around our shared experiences with losing a family member.
Young Love, that was an impactful takeout and I appreciate your words as always.
Hops, thank you for your compassion and always having more concern for others than yourself. #iamthird.
Value every day with your family and friends.
An outsider/rebel/Anvil-regular stumbled into Death Valley ready to make peace and dish out an appropriate level of punishment. I was welcomed with piercing stares and so it went down like this…..
30 merkins OYO….follow me
Mosey down to track/field
COP
Ring of Fire: #crowdpleaser with 25 pax!
Partner up and line up across mid-field
Burpee Mile: 10 HR burpees per completed lap x 4
Partner 1/2 Mile: (audibled from 1 mile)
Mary:
Run back to launch: Done
Moleskine
Thanks to Semi and Stagecoach for the invite to Q. Enjoyed it. Keep me in the rotation.
I recommend we all switch it up from time to time and get to other AOs. It’s great to see pax we don’t usually see and to workout in unfamiliar territory. Only my second visit to DV and I look forward to future posts. That fresh new track is quite nice.
Larry Birds on the burpee mile were Runstopper and Donkey Kong; crushing it. Both finished shirtless…not surprising. Next burpee mile i call will be declared “shirtless” burpee mile. Several mumbles for audibles on most of the calls so i consider it a job well done.
Welcome Mike N – Enigma. Honestly not sure how we came up with this one. He’s a data services consultant from Columbia SC. Keep coming out and make sure to hook up with the Columbia pax.
Great effort, no injuries, short 6, successful day.
Time again for the weekly installment of the manly lifting of heavy things.
Disclaimers were rampant today. Disclaimer given for the workout followed by disclaimer of some explicit lyrics in the chosen playlist. Pax were duly notified and it began.
COP
The Thang
AMRAP sets
**all sets done w/ timer being 1 pax running to playground for 10 knee-ups (pull-ups as alt) and back
Rinse and repeat back through to the Curls/Cleans. Audibled to merkins w/ no bell to save us from face plant.
Mary – We don’t do no stinkin’ Mary at Meathead!
NMM:
It was steamy so the AMRAPs produced some sweaty,sleevless man-dudes. Simple but hopefully effective workout for all. No doubles today, so i encouraged everyone to use their heavier bell and focus on good form and not high reps. Included the merkins as an ode to anyone enjoying the merkin challenge #notthisguy.
The calf raises were included to help give our already ripped shells that final touch. Purple Haze and Margo will love that this was included.
The aforementioned (via Twitter) playlist included some stellar rap tunes from the past. I did audible on a couple (NWA) to try and keep the lyrical exploits to a minimum. To appease others I did include some rock. When i went to turn down 99 Problems, as a couple teachers turned into the lot, Hairball made the statement not to bother as they hear much worse these days. Aye!
I appreciate the opportunity to lead, and to help push each other to do what we otherwise would not.
Thank you Les Mis for the strong takeout.
Playlist:
It was 11 men who were brave enough to come out to one of the toughest AOs in the land, and knowing full well we were going to test where our fitness levels stood. Here’s what we did:
Brief mosey to lay out the 0.2 mile+ loop that will be used soon for the timed run
COP
Feats of speed and strength
Done!
Mermaid and I discussed bringing a fitness test style workout to Anvil, as we had seen this done at Metro’s Jungle. I think what we put together today did a good job of measuring strength and endurance, and will work as a good measuring stick that we will revisit periodically. It was designed to allow for brief rests followed by maximum effort for short bursts. Hope everyone enjoyed and got out of it what they saught.
If we aren’t out here to get better then i don’t know why we’d come out. Though Van Pelt did make the comment that once you hit Respect it’s about maintaining. Good perspective. So this can be used as a baseline for improvement and/or maintaining a certain level, but do use it as a marker to strive to meet or beat in the future.
Welcome to High Tide making his first Anvil post. Welcome back Rehab and congrats on your first…get some sleep! Mermaid and Runstopper: hope those knees get better soon.
Solid work with all of the pax pushing themselves. Always great to see.
Sincere takeout by Hopper.
In full disclosure, here are my numbers. Shoutout with your numbers in the comments.
Until we meet in the gloom again. Aye.
Announcements
In the spirit of Iron Sharpens Iron we will be assessing our fitness levels tomorrow at Anvil. Metro’s Jungle has had these recently and I thought we should bring this to A51.
YHC will be the Q leading you in several events to gauge where you currently stand. This is you versus you, so come out with the aim to work hard to push yourself to the limit. We will all be better for it. The plan is to revisit this same workout periodically to determine our strides (or regressions).
In order to determine where you are physically you must have measurable achievements. Then you take those metrics as your baseline and push each and every day to blow past them!
**Bring a watch and/or phone for timing and record-keeping.**
Beautiful morning to put in the Friday downpainment. Despite their best judgement 25 strong posted at one of the strongest AOs in the land. Some good mumblechatter to start things off, primarily poking the bear. And so it began….
circle up where we stand.
COP
mosey to front of CC stairs, partner up with like-size
Stair circuit
mosey across 51…..5k pace down to Greenway for circuit (1/2 mile)….Flutter x 25 IC for 6
Greenway circuit
Mary to wait for 6 to finish:
fast mosey back up 51 to road leading to Palatine Hill
Grab some curb at base of Palatine
Gather up and fast mosey back to launch to make it back at 6:16….lets not end it quite yet….5 HR burpees OYO….DONE
COT
Moleskinny
A lot of Q hazing last night via Twitter from the likes of Purple Haze and Chelms. Something about this likely to be easy and such; so tried to deliver an appropriate beatdown. Q harrasment continued in the COP; Chelms not a fan of stationary work…aka plank series….felt it was a nod to Runstopper’s wheelhouse. Maybe, maybe not. We got on the move after the stair/ramp work and didn’t slow down.
This AO brings out the best of the best in A51 and our resident Metro stud Checkpoint. Effort was strong and held true for the duration. Several Larry Birds on the 5k pace as well as the circuit work. I caught some slack for the merkins and HR burpees in the mud, but oh well…you get what i serve and like it!!! Nobody slowed down and pushed hard throughout the circuit.
Kotters to several today including Red Rocks and Plebe. Solid work put in men.
BOM – always meaningful takeout courtesy of Hops
Deep Thoughts and observations:
Announcements:
A stong 26 Pax showed up for a Monday beatdown. The unsuspecting awaited for what was to come and so did the Q who made some calls on the fly. No FNGs, not a pro but working on it, follow me…..
Mosey down Camilla to Carmel middle
COP
Partner wheelbarrow: up school steps and down ramp (flapjack)
Ring of Fire: vary between high plank, elbow plank and 6 inch holds (Pax holds plank in a circle while 1 Pax runs circle and returns, next Pax up….until everyone has ru)
Partner combo work:
Mosey back down Camilla to Church at CLT crosswalk
Circuit:
Sprint work
Done!
Moleskine
Big crew this morning. Great to see everyone and a special welcome back to Skywalker after the knee surgery. You looked strong brother.
Some decent heckling of the Q on some of my calls (always appreciated and welcomed) though it got substantially quieter after the ring of fire. Threw the Pax off with the HR burpees to start COP but then got back in order with the SSH to reign it back in.
The ring of fire with 26 Pax was brutal but we got better because of it. Saw some atrocious form out there so definitely an area we need to work on. Better to go to knees while keeping good form than piking the whole time. Called out my boy Agony to keep his back straight and he promptly replied, “but that hurts”.
Everyone kept up and pushed this morning. You never see any give up at DMZ. Shout out to One Eye, Hops and Gangsta Mouse as the Larry Birds on the slingshots.
Always meaningful takeout from Skywalker